Women's Hoops Ends Season In NCAA Second Round
The season came to an end for the St. John Fisher College and Ithaca College women's basketball program, on Saturday in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Championship.
ST. JOHN FISHER
The Cardinals suffered a 72-67 loss in overtime at Tufts University
With the loss, Fisher finishes the year with an overall record of 22-7. It was the first time Fisher has advanced past the First Round in NCAAs since the 1999-2000season.
The Cardinals were seconds away from stunning the host Jumbos (28-1), who entered the game ranked fifth nationally.
Tufts, who never led in regulation, tied the game for just the second time on the night on a short jumper with four seconds left, knotting the game at 60-60.
In overtime, the two teams swapped leads on four different occasions, with the Cardinals taking a 64-63 lead with just over three minutes left. The Jumbos, however, scored the next five points to take the lead for good.
The Cardinals pulled to within a point at 68-67 with 1:32 left on a 3-pointer from
Portia Velasco, who scored all seven of her team's points in overtime, but would go scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Fisher jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the open moments of the game and led 29-25 at the half. The Cardinals would go on to lead by as many as 10 points at 43-33 with 13:24 remaining in regulation on a layup from
Claire Walsh.
Tufts rallied over the next 10 minutes and tied the game for the first time at 53s with 2:52 left. Fisher would score the next five points – a three-point-play from freshman
Lunden Cunningham and a layup from classmate
Jessica Rhone – to take a 58-53 advantage with 1:36 left in the second half.
After a 3-pointer made it a two-point game at 58-56, the Cardinals would go back up four at 60-56 after two free throws from senior
Sydney Bloomstein.
Seniors Velasco and Bloomstein each finished with a team-high 17 points in their final collegiate game. Bloomstein also led Fisher with eight rebounds.
Mary Kate Cusack (15 points) was the only other player in double figures.
ITHACA
The Ithaca College women's basketball team stretched nationally-ranked Bowdoin in the second half but fell 71-66 in an NCAA Tournament second-round game at Bowdoin's Morrell Gymnasium on Saturday, March 7, 2015. Ithaca finished its season with a 23-6 record. Bowdoin is 25-4.
The game was close throughout the second half and neither team held a lead of greater than eight points in the duration of the 40 minutes. Ithaca used a pivotal stretch late in the second half to give itself a chance to hand Bowdoin its first defeat at home all season.
The Bombers cut the Polar Bears' lead to one point on four occasions in the middle portion of the second half, and then tied the game 58-58 on a straight-away 3-pointer from
Alex Gilligan with 7:40 left in the half. Ithaca went ahead on two free throws from
Ally Mnich with 6:08 left, and Mnich added a 3-pointer from the left side to make it 63-58.
Samantha Klie made a layup to give the Bombers their largest lead at 65-58.
The Ithaca defense held Bowdoin scoreless for a span of more than six minutes in the second half. The Polar Bears scored on a layup with 9:58 left and then made two foul shots with 3:49 remaining. Those free throws began an 8-1 run for Bowdoin capped by a 3-pointer from Marle Curle to tie the score 66-66 with 1:55 left.
A Bowdoin steal and 3-pointer from Curle gave the Polar Bears a 69-66 advantage. Ithaca regained possession with 32 seconds left trailing by three. A 3-point shot for the Bombers was blocked with 16 seconds left and Bowdoin got the rebound. Shannon Brady made one foul shot, and Ithaca failed to score on its next possession. One more Bowdoin foul shot accounted for the five-point margin of victory.
The teams traded scoring runs in a give-and-take first half.
Ithaca broke a seven-point run to start the game by the Polar Bears with a left-wing three from
Keri Steele and long jumper from
Ally Mnich to get back to within two, and
Ali Ricchiuti scored on a driving layup to tie the score at 7-7. A driving layup by Klie gave Ithaca its first lead at 15-14 with 12:50 left in the first half.
The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes. Bowdoin led 22-19, but Ithaca answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from
Alex Gilligan to put Ithaca in front 25-22 with 8:10 left. Bowdoin scored the game's next 11 points over three and a half minutes to build its largest lead at 33-25 but
Erin Ferguson scored to break Ithaca's drought, which started a 10-2 Ithaca run to tie the score. Bowdoin made a top-of-the-key 3-pointer in the final minute and held a 38-35 halftime advantage.
Four players scored in double figures for Ithaca, led by Klie with 14 points. Gilligan and Steele scored 12 points each and Mnich added 11. Ithaca converted 7-of-16 3-point attempts and went 13-of-17 from the foul line.
Francesca Cotrupe led Ithaca with 11 rebounds. Ithaca outrebounded Bowdoin 44-37. The Bombers had 14 turnovers and seven shots were blocked by the Polar Bears.
Bowdoin will face eighth-ranked Montclair State in the round of 16 next weekend at a site to be determined. The other game in that regional bracket is No. 9 Amherst against No. 18 Salisbury.